I first invested $5,000 in bitcoin back in 2013 at $72 per coin and now own approximately 69.2 bitcoins. While I had first heard about bitcoin in 2011, it wasn't until I watched a documentary and started reading forums about the cryptocurrency that I decided to buy it. It was easy to see how bitcoin could disrupt the entire financial system. I decided to buy as a long-term experiment and used less than 1 percent of my net worth at the time to buy into bitcoin. Sure, I wanted to make money on it, but if I lost everything, it wasn't going to change the course of my life. As of this writing, bitcoin is trading at $16,600, which makes my bitcoins now worth $1,148,720. It took me five years working

In case you missed it, Sears announced it was pushing out a debt maturity from 2018 to 2019. All in, it's a huge sign that Sears could be hanging "going out-of-business" signs in many more stores in 2018. Sears stock tanked almost 6% on Tuesday as the plans were likely leaked (this stuff is always leaked) -- it would be shocking if the stock doesn't dive again Wednesday.

LOL: First story I read Tuesday wasn't about the dollar ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting, oil prices spiking to $65 a barrel or a key policy proposal for el Presidente Trump. Nope, it was about cryptocurrency litecoin. Over the past 24 hours, litecoin has exploded roughly 67% to $250 as interest in bitcoin futures casts a halo throughout the cryptocurrency realm. Litecoin's market cap: $13.1 billion at last check. That's nowhere near bitcoin's almost $300 billion, but still worth more than Sears (SHLD) ($459 million) and impressive in the grand scheme of things. Wondering what litecoin is? It's described as being a lightweight alternative to bitcoin. Whatever that means ... Quick take on

At the center of the recession, and the financial crisis that rocked markets in 2008, was the housing bubble. The number of homeowners who are underwater on their mortgage – meaning they owe a lender more than their home is worth – is still more than double what was normal in the years before the bubble. It may seem jarring that more than a million homeowners still haven’t climbed above water so many years after the bubble burst, even in a housing market supposedly starved for inventory.

It can make a prospective employer question your loyalty, your work ethic, even your personality. Whether you like it or not, if you have been let go, this is an issue you will have to address and pass with flying colors to get to the next level in your job interview. It will be worse for you if the hiring manager finds out that you lied to them.

could get an opening bell boost Wednesday after analysts at Deutsche Bank initiated coverage of the Boston-based biotech with a "buy" rating and a price target of $175. The group, which unveiled positive data from its Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies of three different triple combination regimens in people with cystic fibrosis earlier this year, may also be a takeover target if U.S. lawmakers pass a tax reform bill before the end of the year, Deutsche Bank said. "Vertex has developed a potential (crica) $9 billion CF franchise that will be extremely challenging to displace," Deutsche Bank wrote.

is giving investors a painful reminder in 2017 that a great company can be an awful stock. Without a doubt, GE is an industrial powerhouse. GE has been a truly awful stock all year long, shedding more than 43% of its market value in the last 11 months, all while missing out on a near-20% broad market rally over that same timeframe.

Coinbase, the leading U.S. platform for buying and selling major digital currencies, said twice on Tuesday that transactions in ethereum (Exchange: ETH=) were "temporarily disabled." In the morning New York time, Coinbase said buys and sells of ethereum and litecoin were temporarily disabled. Earlier, a spokesperson for Coinbase said in a statement that "the site is seeing high traffic volume at the moment and some users may be experiencing intermittent service outages." Ethereum seven-day performance Source: CoinMarketCap Coinbase's GDAX exchange website also said there is a "partially degraded service," as of 2:38 p.m. Ethereum briefly surged more than 23 percent Tuesday to a record high of $637.62, according to CoinMarketCap.

The Senate is reportedly working on a draft of a house financing reform bill that could have huge implications for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Since 2012, all of Fannie and Freddie's profits have been turned over to the government under the terms of their bailouts during the financial crisis. The good news for Fannie and Freddie started in May when Federal Housing Finance Agency director Mel Watt said it would be irresponsible to keep the two government-sponsored entities under government conservatorship without recapitalizing them to provide a cushion in the event of another housing market downturn.

Chicago-based Boeing (NYSE: BA) has operations around the country. Here are other recent stories reported by The Business Journals. The Trump effect could give Boeing an edge over Airbus in the fight for Delta's big jet deal Boeing may have gained an edge over Airbus as the jet makers battle for a Delta Air Lines order of up to 100 single-aisle jets, thanks to the Trump effect, an aerospace analyst said Monday. (Puget Sound Business Journal) Boeing tea leaves signal more potential Wichita-boosting plans News surrounding the Boeing Co. is sending up more signs that a passenger version of its 767 model might be nearing a restart, a move that would drive additional work in Wichita in the future. (Wichita

Shares of Nvidia Corp. ( NVDA) have had a rough couple of weeks, with a stock that has fallen by nearly 11.5% since November 24, while the S&P 500 has risen by almost 2.5%. To be fair, the iShares PHLX Semiconductor ETF ( SOXX) has fallen by nearly 7.5%.

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. WWE, which belongs to the aforementioned industry, has benefited from the trend with the stock gaining 39.2%. Stocks such as IMAX Corporation IMAX, Twenty-First Century Fox, Inc. FOXA and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. LGF.A, have also witness upsides of 20%, 26.6% and 3.4%, respectively. The company’s record revenues primarily came on the back of substantial increase in revenues in North America, Europe/Middle East/Africa (“EMEA”) and gain in WWE Network’s total subscriber base.

Thirty-seven years ago Tuesday, Apple Inc. went public, raising a little over $100 million by selling its stock for $22 a share (40 cents on a split-adjusted basis). Some 40 Apple employees became instant millionaires, starting with Steve Jobs, who was suddenly worth $217 million. Apple has since gone on to do many amazing things, and for at least the last decade it has also been an amazing stock, with a market capitalization that last month topped $900 billion, an astounding figure.

A recent surge in Litecoin price shows that investors are beginning to catch on this digital currency as an alternative to Bitcoin. While it has remained the dominant player and continues to be largest digital currency by share of market cap but Bitcoin is losing some ground to other digital currencies on questions of mining efficiencies as well as how expensive it is now to buy. Here are some reasons why Litecoin may prove to be a better investment than Bitcoin in the future. Like Bitcoin, But Improved Litecoin is often compared to Bitcoin, and for good reason: the two digital currencies are closely related, with Litecoin having been heavily influenced by its older peer when it was developed

The Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rate again on Wednesday. The Fed adjusts the interest rates that banks charge to borrow from one another, which is eventually passed on to consumers. Some economists say that what the Fed is doing now is a bit unusual because it's raising rates even though inflation is quite low.

A day after his agency intervened to halt an initial coin offering (ICO) sale, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) chairman, Jay Clayton, issued a note urging investors in cryptocurrencies and ICOs to exercise caution and “ask good questions, demand clear answers and apply good common sense” while investing in the instruments. Clayton also included a list of questions that could help investors make informed decisions. Digital currencies remain outside the SEC's purview but it has issued advisories regarding ICOs in the past. This is the first time the SEC chairman has released a note on cryptocurrencies and ICOs. His statement could be taken as a sign that the agency might soon play

You’ve done all the right things – financially speaking, at least – to get ready for retirement. You started saving early to take advantage of the power of compounding, maxed out your 401(k) and individual retirement account (IRA) contributions every year, made smart investments, squirreled away money into additional savings, paid down debt and figured out how to maximize your Social Security benefits. Many people who have saved consistently for retirement have trouble making the transition from saver to spender when the time comes.

Ethereum just topped $500 for the first time 10:15 AM ET Tue, 12 Dec 2017 | 00:34 Ether, the digital token of the Ethereum blockchain, just reached a major milestone. The price of the cryptocurrency surpassed $600 for the first time Tuesday, and surged as high as $635.00, according to data by CoinDesk, whose price index tracks prices from cryptoexchanges Bitstamp, Coinbase and Bitfinex. This marked a renewed all-time high for ether. Ether is the second-largest digital currency by market value, according to Coinmarketcap data, and is commonly used in digital coin sales known as initial coin offerings (ICOs). Its price has risen more than 5,000 percent since the start of the year, according

In 2017, Wal-Mart Stores Inc (NYSE: WMT) has proven that there's plenty of room for two e-commerce giants to thrive in the U.S. market. According to Stifel analyst Scott Devitt, there's no need for U.S. investors to pick between Alibaba Group Holding Ltd ( BABA) and JD.com Inc ( JD) in China. While Alibaba and JD continue to compete with each other for market share, both will likely deliver huge growth numbers in the years ahead.

Dow component United Technologies Corporation ( UTX) spent the first three quarters of 2017 underperforming its defense contracting peers, but the stock has surged higher since September and has now reached major resistance at the 2015 bull market high. In turn, this price action has completed a multi-year inverse head and shoulders pattern, with a breakout having the potential to reach the $160s.

Swedish payments company iZettle AB is said to be open to a sale as an alternative to preparing for an initial public offering, in a so-called dual-track process, according to a person familiar with the company's plans. The company, which provides terminals that allow small businesses to easily take card payments and also offers financial services, announced Wednesday that it has raised 40 million euros ($47 million) to fund growth. The round was led by existing investor Dawn and the Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund.

’Tis the season to make next-year predictions, and Morgan Stanley chip analysts Joseph Moore and Craig Hettenbach and colleagues today offer up a group piece that predicts a more “mixed” 2018 for semiconductors than was the “exceptional” 2017. Remember that Moore’s colleague, Katy Huberty, warned about falling NAND flash prices two weeks ago, when she downgraded shares of Western Digital (WDC). Moore & Co. are back again today with the warning that, “supply is accelerating in some areas in 2018,” including NAND.

The fascination with virtual currencies feels more like a "speculative mania", the head of Australia's central bank said on Wednesday, just days after the launch of the world's first bitcoin futures. Cryptocurrency bitcoin surged past $17,000 on Tuesday to an all-time high, two days after futures trading began on Chicago-based derivatives exchange CBOE Global Markets.